A publication of the Office of the Vice Provost for Research at Baylor University

America’s history is filled with tales about ingenious or heroic actions by men and women who made significant advancements in science and technology. Two of these well-worn narratives concern Thomas Edison’s status as the inventor of the light bulb and Benjamin Franklin’s “discovery” of electricity with his famous kite experiment. But how much of what we know about these two stories is really true?

Dr. Blaine McCormick, an associate professor of management in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, recently appeared on the Military Channel program “America: Facts vs. Fiction,” where he discussed the popular understanding of these stories and suggested that what many of us learned in our history classes may not be completely accurate.